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December 22, 2024
 

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INTERNET

The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024
1 billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok
In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.
LIFE / Digital / Japan Pulse
Dec 17, 2024
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
Cat memes continued to thrive and evolve in 2024. In Japan, they're not just for jokes — they’re for storytelling, venting and a little therapy.
Students from Yamagata Prefectural Kamo Fisheries High School experience simulated pelagic tuna fishing using VR headsets in August.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024
VR used to stir young people's interest in fishing industry
VR headsets allow users to see how workers catch tuna and do other work with a 360-degree view from aboard a ship.
A Lower House plenary session in Tokyo on Monday. The Liberal Democratic Party will hold a meeting on Dec. 20 to discuss the use of social media in election campaigns.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2024
LDP to hold meeting on social media use in election campaigns
The meeting on Dec. 20 comes ahead of major polls next year in which the party aims to win new supporters online and take measures to counter disinformation.
A grapnel, used to retrieve cables, on the deck of the Leon Thevenin in Cape Town on April 30. In a wireless world, it is easy to forget the all-too-real cables that snake across the turbulent ocean floor — until they snap.
WORLD
Dec 4, 2024
When undersea cables break, a wireless world’s vulnerability is exposed
Landslides, a ship dragging its anchor, military skirmishes and sabotage can all damage cables.
Generative artificial intelligence search technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 3, 2024
Japanese firms begin adopting generative AI for information searches
AI technology is proving valuable for searching corporate databases and providing concise, natural-sounding answers.
Rachel Accurso, in character as the internet personality Ms. Rachel, in New York on Nov. 4.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024
Ms. Rachel’s improbable journey from toddler whisperer to holiday toy sensation
A series of toys depicting children’s YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel is quickly becoming one of the hottest holiday gifts.
According to a recent survey by Child Fund Japan, a nonprofit, one in eight minors in Japan have experienced online requests from strangers to meet or for sexual photos. Despite the potential harms of social media, strong regulations are lacking.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024
Japan doesn't need a social media ban, but it must protect children
Short of stopping minors from using social media, Japan needs to beef up its response to an evermore perilous online environment. One that adults often struggle to grasp.
A woman carries firewood she bought at a marketplace in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Oct. 2. Telehealth — the use of technology to provide and access health care services remotely — has been growing around the world but is relatively new in Zimbabwe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 27, 2024
In Zimbabwe, Starlink’s fast internet gives telehealth a boost
The satellite unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX received the green light in May to operate its internet services in Zimbabwe.
Chinese bulk carrier Yi Peng 3 sails in the sea of Kattegat, near the city of Grenaa in Jutland, Denmark, on Nov. 20.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024
Sweden urges Chinese ship to return for undersea cable investigation
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country seeks clarity over how the fiber-optic cables linking several countries were severed.
The Google campus in Mountain View, California, on May 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Google arguments draw skepticism from judge in ad tech case
The case is one of several against Google over antitrust issues.
Zoom Video Communications has failed to impress investors with its latest sales forecast, who were expecting a bigger boost from the company’s expanded suite of products. An ongoing loss of consumers and small businesses from Zoom has also concerned investors, particularly since these customers are typically higher-margin than corporate clients.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 26, 2024
Zoom fails to impress investors with sales forecast for expanded lineup
While Zoom’s outlook met estimates, the stock had gained about 48% since the company’s last earnings report in August on optimism about the new products.
Nylon is wrapped around fiber-optic cables at a SubCom factory in Newington, New Hampshire, in December 2018.
WORLD
Nov 21, 2024
Strategic subsea cables: the vulnerable links that enable our digital lives
Sweden and Finland have opened investigations into potential "sabotage" against cables damaged on Sunday and Monday in the Baltic Sea.
The C-Lion1 submarine telecommunications cable being laid at the bottom of the Baltic Sea off the shore of Helsinki on Oct 12, 2015.
WORLD
Nov 19, 2024
Two undersea cables in Baltic Sea found to have been cut
The episode recalled other incidents in the same waterway that authorities have probed as potentially malicious, including damage to undersea cables last year.
Nojima will purchase about 93% of Vaio's outstanding shares from investment fund Japan Industrial Partners.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 12, 2024
Nojima to acquire PC company Vaio for ¥11.2 billion
Sony will continue to hold a 4.7% stake in Vaio.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appears to doze off as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi (center) looks on before the first round of a parliamentary vote to nominate a prime minister following the Oct. 27 general election, during a special session of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 12, 2024
Ishiba’s apparent dozing in parliament due to cold, top spokesman says
Video showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba appearing to doze off during a key session of parliament went viral on social media.
A 15,000-pound undersea cable for transportation to Brazil, at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on June 8, 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
U.S. agency to launch review of undersea cables and national security risks
More than 400 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet, carrying more than 99% of the world’s data traffic.
Kunihiro Tanaka, CEO of Sakura Internet, says the firm's data center under construction in Hokkaido will likely be fully booked by the time it comes online in three years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 31, 2024
Sakura Internet loads up on Nvidia gear for data center project
Sakura’s current capacity is now fully booked, with a waiting list that extends for years.
Nanako Fujita competes during a race in 2019. The recent news of Fujita quitting after her suspension for breaking horse racing's strict phone rules shows that bad habits related to smartphone use don't discriminate.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Oct 25, 2024
Horse racing in Japan has a smartphone problem
Nanako Fujita's recent retirement over breaches of smartphone rules put a spotlight on a big issue for horse racing in Japan.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.
Curiosity didn’t kill the meme: Why cats still rule Japanese YouTube
A screen shot from YouTube user @lagelda shows the simplicity of going viral in Japan in 2024: A cat dancing to EDM in front of a green screen.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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